Incinerator



March 13, 1956 E. M. MIMS INCINERATOR Filed Feb. 21, 1955 INVENTOR.ERNEST M, Mms

HIS AGENT United States Patent INCINERATOR Ernest M. Mims, Temple, Tex,Application Februaryzl, 1955, SerialNo. 489,384 6 Claims. (Cl. non- .8)

This invention relates to improvements in incinerators, and moreparticularly to mobile. incinerators which can be readily moved fromplace to place, to make possible the burning of leaves, paper, garbageand the like close to the place where material has accumulated.

Various incinerators have been proposed heretofore, but these, for themost part, were not mobile, as in the case of the present device, manytypes were dangerous from the standpoint of spreading fire, andtherefore did.

- safe, so as to make possible the burning of combustible material incongested areas.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an incineratorWhich may be charged with refuse, but while the refuse is burning, thereis no escape of burning embers or blowing flame to endanger thesurrounding area.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an incineratorwhich has an agitator element therein. which projects below the gratethereof to make possible the thorough agitating of the material therein,thereby making possible almost complete combustion of the. materialwithin the incinerator.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an incinerator,the combustion portion is substantially enclosed for safety, yet whichhas suflicient draft to provide adequate combustion.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an incinerator whichis simple in construction, easy tov move and safe to use.

With these objects in mind, and others that will manifest themselves asthe description proceeds, reference is to be had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which like reference characters designate like parts in theseveral views thereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the device embodying the invention,taken from a side and the top thereof, with parts broken a 'ay and shownin section, to illustrate the details of construction;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the incinerator, and showingone of the agitator prongs projecting below the grate.

With more detailed reference to the drawing, the numeral 1 designatesgenerally a cart which has a base or frame 2 on which a pair of wheels 3are rotatably mounted, near a side of said frame. The opposite side ofthe supporting frame or base has a foot or leg member 4, which, with thewheels, supports the frame substan- 2,737,911 Patented Mar. 13, 1956tially in horizontalposition. A pair of upright standards 5' are securedto said frame, as by welding, as will best be seen from Fig. 1. Thesestandards 5 extend upward, and have the upper ends thereof turned inwardtoward each other to forma handle. This handle may either be integral,inturned portions of the. standards, as just described, or a separateportion joining the upper ends of the standards to form a handle may beused; the handle is designated at 6.

' The lower and intermediate portions of the standards 5 form a cradleto support the incinerator, when in an angular position, as for moving,as will be more fully brought out hereinafter. A brace 5a extends fromeach standard 5 to frame 2.

An incinerator drum, generally designated by the numeral 7, ispreferably made of metal and is cylindrical in shape. The drum 7 ispositioned within the upstanding flanges of theangle iron frame members2, with the drum positioned on the frame so the axis of the drum will besubstantially vertical. The angle iron frame members 2 are so arrangedas to seat the drum on the in-turned flanges thereof, and theup-standing flanges extend upward therearound to prevent lateralmovement of the drum on the frame. A winged set screw 8 threadablyengages the forward side of the up-standing flange of angle member 2 sothe set screw may be tightened against the drum to securely retain thedrum in-place on the frame 2. i

The rear portion of the cylindrical drum abuts with the uprightstandards 5, which form a cradle when the incinerator is being wheeledfrom place to place. While the incinerator is used and moved on thewheeled frame, it may be readily removed therefrom, for cleaning and thelike, by loosening the winged set screw 8, and simply lifting the drumupward, clear of the angle flange of the frame members 2'.

The incinerator 7 has a removable grate 9 therein, which grate issupported on angle lugs 10. These angle lugs 10 are secured around theinner surface of the drum 7 at spaced intervals, as by welding, and areequidistant from the bottom 11 of the drum. Since there is no upwardpressure on the grate, it merely rests on and is supported by the lugs10, and maybe readily lifted therefrom, if desired.

The grate 9 is preferably made of parallel bars welded to a circularsupport member 12, so as to be in' spaced relation.

Openings 13 are formed in the cylindrical drum below the grate 9, so asto permit the interior of the drum to be ventilated from below thegrate, so as to produce conditions that will promote proper combustionwithin the incinerator. It is to be noted however, that the openings arenot formed in the bottom ofthe drum, nor is any portion of the bottomcut away in the forming of theseopenings, therefore, should any burningembers fall through the grate, they will not fall from the incinerator,but willfall onto the bottom thereof, where they will not present a firehazard.

A transverse shaft 14 is journaled horizontally in the cylindrical drum7, with the axis thereof at right angles to the parallel bars of thegrate 9. One end of the shaft is journaled within a collar or bearing15, which bearing extends inward. The other end of the shaft extendsthrough the wall of the cylindrical drum 7, and is journaled therein asindicated at 16. A C-washer or clip ring 17 interfits within a groove16' formed within shaft 14, which prevents longitudinal outward movementof the shaft, when it is properly set in place.

A pair of pointed prongs or arms 14a are welded, or otherwise secured tothe shaft 14, at right angles thereto and at right angles to each other.These arms are of such length that the pointed ends will protrude belowthe lower surface of the parallel bars of the grate 9.

The journals and 16 are preferably loose fitting, which permits theshaft 14 to be removed, as will be more fully brought out hereinafter. Acrank 18 is re movably secured to the outer end of the shaft 14,exterior of the drum, by means of a pin 19, which pin passes through thehub of the crank and through the shaft 14. This arrangement of the crankon the shaft, allows the contents of the drum to be thoroughly stirred,should it become packed and thus impede the circulation of air throughthe drum.

A cover 20 is provided for the cylindrical drum 7, which cover hashandles 21 thereon to facilitate the removal thereof to permit thecharging of the drum, but the cover is kept in place during the burningof the refuse, so as to eliminate the danger of burning embers escapingtherefrom.

A vent pipe 22 is provided at the upper portion of the cylindrical drum7, and is oppositely disposed from the openings 13, so as to provideproper draft through the drum. The opening from the drum into the pipeis covered with a mesh wire screen member 23, to prevent particles ofburning material from passing through the flue pipe and thus present afire hazard. The flue pipe 22 is provided with an inverted conical cover24, which is secured thereto in spaced relation therefrom, so as toprevent entrance of rain, snow, and the like into the drum.

Operation The incinerator drum 7 may be wheeled from place to place byslightly tilting the frame off the legs and wheeling the device to thedesired place of use, which may be near an accumulation of leaves,paper, or other refuse. The lid or cover 20 is removed for charging thedrum, but is replaced for the burning operation. The incinerator isplaced with the openings 13 facing the wind, and the contents thereofignited. With the openings 13 facing the wind, a draft is createdthrough the drum and out through flue pipe 22. Normally the contents ofthe drum will burn vigorously, but should it become packed and thusimpede the circulation of air through the drum, the crank 18 may beturned, by hand, to rotate the shaft so that the prongs 14a will berotated through the contents of the drum, thus thoroughly stirring thecontents and thus allowing the air to circulate freely therethrough. Itis to be pointed out that the pointed ends of the prongs extend betweenand below the parallel grate bars, so that a layer of material cannotaccumulate on the grate, to hinder the combustion of the material in thedrum, which feature is clearly seen from the drawings.

By the removal of pin 19 and C-washer 17, the shaft 14 may be moved tothe left, as viewed in Fig. 2, until the inner end passes out of collar15, whereupon, by manipulation, the shaft may be moved inward out ofengagement with bearing 16, thus the shaft may be removed from the drum,and with the shaft bearing the prongs, removed, the grate may be readilyremoved from the drum. It is thus readily apparent that the device isquickly disassembled for cleaning, and as readily reassembled for use.

While the device has been described and illustrated in one embodimentthereof, it is to be understood that changes may be made in the minordetails of construction, and adaptations made for different uses,without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of theappended claims.

Having thus clearly shown and described the invention, what is claimedas new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A mobile incinerator comprising a base, an upright cylindrical drummounted on said base, said drum having the lower end thereof closed, andthe upper end thereof open, a removable cover adapted to close the openupper end, outstanding brackets secured around the interior surface ofsaid drum equidistant from the bottom thereof, a grate formed ofparallel bars, which grate rcmovably rests on said brackets, ventopenings formed in the lower portion of the wall of said drum, said drumhaving a vent opening formed therein near the top thereof and oppositelydisposed from the lower vent openings, a vent pipe secured in said uppervent opening of said drum, a shaft journaled in said drum intermediatesaid grate and the top of said drum at a right angle to said grate barsand in a plane parallel thereto, prongs secured to said shaft at rightangles thereto, which prongs are of such length a to extend between andbelow said bars of said grate, and means on said shaft for rotatingsame.

2. The device substantially as set forth in claim 1, wherein; theexterior ends of said prongs are pointed.

3. The device substantially as set forth in claim 1, wherein; saidprongs are pointed at their outer ends, and extend below said parallelbars of said grate and intermediate thereof, and which prongs arerotatable with said shaft.

4. The device substantially as set forth in claim 1, wherein; a crank isremovably secured to the outer end of said shaft, and clip ring means onsaid shaft to normally retain said shaft against longitudinal, outwardmovement.

5. The device substantially as set forth in claim 1, wherein; said basehas a transverse axle secured thereto, wheels rotatably mounted on saidaxle, one on each side of said base, and support means for retainingsaid base in horizontal position during the burning operation.

6. The device substantially as set forth in claim I, wherein; saidopening formed near the top of said drum is covered by a screen member,and said vent pipe having the exposed extremity thereof covered by a capmember which is secured thereto a spaced distance therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS159,271 Kepner Feb. 2, 1875 522,059 Hodgson June 26, 1894 839,270Cottrell Dec. 25, 1906 962,148 Jackson June 21, 1910 2,495,076 PattersonJan. 17, 1950 2,515,497 Davidson July 18, l950

